WB, DC backing away from DCEU (finally)

Courtesy of Warner Bros.‘Wonder Woman’ set numerous records upon release, including highest-grossing movie with a female director. It is the highest-rated film in the DCEU.

By Zach Landau | A&E Editor

10/12/17

On Sept. 29, fans of superhero comics and movies finally got confirmation of a rumor that has been making the rounds for quite some time now: DC is officially stepping down from its Extended Universe (DCEU) project.

In what was a clear attempt to mimic the success of rival Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, the DCEU was meant to link past and future movies starring the comic mogul’s A-list heroes together under one roof. The critically-mixed Man of Steel started this maligned attempt to cash in on superhero hype back in 2013, but it wasn’t until the critically-condemned Batman v. Superman that the first attempts to unite multiple movies were made.

The next attempt at keeping this plague-infested pile of filth alive was last year’s Suicide Squad, an experience best replicated by smearing spray-on hair coloring on your TV and being smothered by an avalanche of the branded hoodies that invaded your local Hot Topic in the aftermath of this cultural disaster.

Am I making it clear that I thought this whole DCEU thing was a bad idea? If not, let me say it as plainly as I can: The DCEU was a trainwreck of an idea, birthed from the oxygen-starved brains of executives who have kept their heads buried so far underground for almost three decades as to blot out reality from their lives.

Is it clear now?

But then came Wonder Woman, and if you think this disdain is a bit overblown, please strap yourself into the nearest available seat as I explain to you the monumental stupidity that DC displayed:

The industry speculation is that Wonder Woman, the critical and box-office success story of this past summer, ruined the plans for the DCEU because it was too good.

Give yourself a second to comprehend this.

Because Wonder Woman did well — because actually focusing on a single, cohesive film rather than trying to ape the success of far superior efforts worked — DC now has to rework its decade-long, billion-dollar roadmap. Because a part of their plan worked.

How anyone could approve of a plan so ill-thought-out as to fail because a part of it succeeded is beyond me. I literally cannot fathom DC’s decision making. I can’t. It is beyond my scope of reasoning, and I pray, dear reader, it is beyond yours as well.

The fact that this company blew an obscene amount of money on this heaping pile of human sick and filth only to have to backtrack because something good actually resulted from it should have people outraged. This fact alone should shake people to their very core.

Beyond the disgusting waste of money and the phenomenally insipid effort put into this garbage fire has to be one of the most embarrassing moments for DC in its history. To have to admit that your transparent money-grab was so bad that it actually working represented a failure in your scheme must be a hard pill to swallow.

And I do honestly wonder if heads are rolling at DC because of this whole mess. The company’s front-facing policy is that the DCEU will, in fact, continue in some fashion — most likely focused entirely on the Justice League movies, and that the company will instead allow artists to choose their own direction for standalone films. In other words, it’s business as usual for them, but now they are dropping the pretense that any of the films they produce matter.

But can you imagine working at DC’s offices the day this decision came from above? Can you imagine the faces of every employee that was forced to hold up the stinking, cancerous corpse that was the DCEU when they heard that the company was stepping away from it? Can you imagine?

All of this is to say that I am honestly thrown by how bad this whole DCEU debacle has been. Having been closely watching it since its inception, anyone could see that DC and Warner Bros. didn’t have a clue as to how to handle such a massive undertaking. As such, so much money — so much of people’s lives — were squandered at the feet of reckless, feckless greed. And I am utterly disgusted.